Locomotive booster apparatus



Jan. 3, 1928.

Filed Aufl. 27'. 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Jn. 3, 192s. 1,654,909

G. H. ZOU CK LOCOMOTIVE BOOSTER APPARATUS Filed Aug. 2'7, 1925 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 K Patented Jari. 3, 1928.

UNITED STATES PATENT ,.oFFicE;

GEORGE H. zOUcK, or ORANGE, NEW JERSEY,` AssIGNOR To FRANKLIN RAILWAY v SUPPLY COMPANY,` A CORPORATION OEYDELAWARE.

LOCOMOTIVE BOOSTER APPARATUS.'

Application filed August 27, i925.` Serial No. 52,736.

Thisinvention relates to what are now well known as booster motors for aiding locomotives in starting or at slow speeds on heavy pulls. Such motors are arranged to drive an axle either on the locomotive or on the tender with which axle they are suitably connected when it is desired to make use ofV their power although under general running conditions, when the booster is not in use, it 1U is disconnected from the aXle so that the booster parts can comei to rest. The connecting and disconnecting operations arereferred to rin the art by the technical expressions entraining and disentraining or entrainment and di'sentrainment. v A controlling system for the booster motor musttherefore be .provided by means of which it is possible to entrain the motor when desired and disentrain it when not desired and to deliver operating steam to`it when it is running as well as to shut it off when it is not. It is further desirable in such a controlling-system to provide a means for idling the booster motor prior to entrainment and operation in order to warm it up sufficiently so that it will go to work prompt-A ly, as it is expressed,r as well asr to clear it of any condensation.

Furthermore, because of the importanceY 3U of reducing to a minimum the number of duties or operationsv which the engineer must perform in running a train, it is highly desirable and has been customary in the art to subordinate as much as possible the cOn-.

trol of the booster to the controlling devices of the main locomotive. To state it in other words, when the booster is once cut in, the control of its various functions is automatic and entirely subordinate or subservient to the devices with which the engineer controls the main locomotive.

With the foregoing in mind the objects o-f my invention will be better understood which objects include the following:

The provision of a locomotive booster apparatus to which steam is supplied through a single conduit together with independentmeans for delivering first, idling` steam to said conduit, second, entraining steam to said conduit, and third, operating steam to said conduit; the provision of separate valves for controlling each of said steam supplies together with independent motor means, preferably fluid actuated, for opening each of said valves; the pi'ovision of means for subordin'ating the motor-means for opening the valve which supplies the operating stearato the` motor means forjthe valve which supplies` the entraining steam; the provision of means for subordinatingtlie motor for opening the valve which supplies thevoperating stean'ifto the existence of steam pressure inv the locomotivefsupply line which is thev line conducting the steam vfrom the locomotive throttle to the pistonsin other words final operation of the booster motor is dependent uponv operation of the locomotive although entrainment can be effected and maintained regardless of whether or not the locomotive throttle beopened or closed; the 'provision of a pilot device for themotor which opens the idling valveand .of a separate piloty device for the motor which opens the entraining valve both ofA which pilot valvesare subject to the control-of some moving part in the devicesl used for Vadjusting the locomotive cut-off; the provision of a. latch for initiating the operations of the booster whichis adapted tolactuate both of said-pilot valves,

vthe idlingpilot valve being actuated during the initial operation of said latch and the entraining pilot valve being actuated during the remainder or completion of the stroke of said latch; the provision of means whereby theidling pilot valve willmaintain the booster latch in its entrainingipositlion after the entraining positionhas been once at tained; and the p rovision of means whereby the latch will open the vidling pilot valve. in any position ,ofV the moving part of the cut-off mechanism with which it is associated but will actuate the entraining pilot valve only.

in vpositions of long cut-off. Y .Y

T he foregoing ob'ects together with any others which are incident to my inventionr or wliiclirmay appear hereinafter, I obtain by iiieans of an apparatus which isrlllustrated in preferred arrangement in the accompanying drawings, wherein: r

Figure l is a diagram illustrating the Vfunctional relationship existing between the various parts of my improved apparatus with most of themin section. to illustrate their construction and the mannerin ywhich they operate; and l Figures 2.

l 3, and 4' are respectively side, end and plan views of the latchand pilot valve arrangements associated with a power reverse gear for adjusting the locomotive cut-E.

Referring to the drawings and particularly to Fig. 1 it will be seen that the booster A is arranged to drive the aXle 1 thru the medium of the driving pinion 2, the idler gear 3 and the gear 4 fixed to the axle 1. The idler gear 3 is mounted upon the rocker 5 pivoted at 6 so that it can be thrown into mesh with the gear 4 and the booster thereby entrained, the gear 3 being at all times in mesh with Ythe driving pinion 2.

The driving pinion 2 is mounted upon the booster crank shaft 6a which is rotated by the pistons (not shown) of the booster enl gine.

The rocker 5 is moved and entrainment accomplished by means of the piston 7, connecting rod 8, bell crank member 9 and link 10. When pressure is applied'to the face of the piston 7 it moves to the right carrying with it the rod 8, forcing the bell crank member 9 to the right on the pivot 11 and causing the link 10 to move the rocker 5 so as to enable gear 3 to mesh with gear 4. Connection between link 10 and rocker 5 is made'thru the medium of the pin 12 on the rocker and a slotted opening 13 in the link. The slot is so arranged with respect to the other parts that during the initial movement of the piston the gear may be completely entrained or meshed. Subsequent movement of the piston 7 in the same vdirection will simply cause the slot 13 to ride over the pin 12 and have no effect upon the rocker 5.

l The manner and purpose of this arrangement will appear hereinafter.

The rod 8, of course, is pivoted to the piston 7 and to the bell crank member 9 (as shown) and the piston works against the pressure of two springs'one within the other around the rod 8. The inner spring 14 is of lighter construction and is always under compression while the outer spring 15, vwhich is of heavier construction, is designed to exert its pressure only during initial return movement of Ithepiston 7. It

operates between the upstanding rib 1 6 and a washer or collar 17 adapted to abut or come up against the stop 18. During in itial movement-of the piston 7 t0 the right, therefore, it first acts only against the spring 1.4 until the space 7a between the end of the piston 7 and the washer 17 is traversed when said piston carries with it the washer V17 to compress the heavier spring 15 as well.

Pressure is admitted to the tace of the piston 7 thru the'p'ipe 19-19 which is the only pipe yor conduit conducting steam to the booster motor. During normal operation ot the locomotive or when the booster is not being' used the piston 7 is in its left-hand position since the booster is not then entrained and in this position it blocks the iiow ofoperating steam to the booster thru the ports 2O which communicate with the passage21 leading to the valve chest of the booster, notshown.

A 1oy-pass 22 of comparatively smallV capacity is toi-.med in the wall of the cylinder 23 in which the piston 7 reciprocates. It will. therelore be seen that whenever there issteam Amei-:sure in 19 it can pass the piston 7 thru this by-pass 22.

li if; is desired to idle the booster betere putting it into operation steam is admitted to the pipe 19 'from a source at 24 thru the piper controlled by the valve 26. In the pipe25 is arranged asmall choke 27 ot a capacity less than the capacity, ofthe bypass 22 so that thc pressure admitted thru the pipe 25 willat no time be able to accumulate behind the piston .7 and torce it to en-V train the booster as it is not intended to have the 'booster 'entrained in this manner.

rlh'e valve 26 is opened by a :smallptluid motor comprising the piston 28 mounted forr reciprocationin the cylinder 29. The piston 28 works against the pressure ot the spring 30 and by admitting air pressure from a source at 31 thru the pipe 32 and past the pilot valve 33 (to be describedlater) it possible to move the piston downwardly vin order to open the valve 26.

Then it is desired to entrain the booster, steam `trom the same source 24 is admitted to the pipe 34 controlled by the `valve 35. A somewhat larger choke passage 36 is placed in the pipe 34 having a capacity greater than the capacity of the by-pass 22. It will therefore be seen that pressure will build up back of the piston 7 and torce the gear 3 towardV its meshing position with the'v gear 4, the lay-pass 22 serving torkeep the pinion 2 and the gear 3 slowly rotating in order to avoid clashing to as greatV a degree,

as possible during such entr-animent opera tion. 1

Initial movement ol' the piston 7 is opposed onlyby the weaker spring 14 and bei' tore the ports 20 are uncoveredV the heavier spring locomes into play, thereby stopping further movement ot' the piston for the time being since the stean'isupplied through the valve 35 is not sufficientto compress spring 15. lfiiowever, the ldirection oi' rotation is such (see the arrows in Fig. 1) as to cause the driving pinion 2 to pull the idler gear 3 into complete mesh with the axle'gear 4, thus moving the pin 12 to the right hand end of the slot 13. i lVhen actual operation ot' the booster takes place (as will` appear hereinafter) the piston 7 is Yfree to move 'l'orward to uncover ports 20 because the slot 13 permits the link 10 toV move to the right with relation to the pin 12. .y 1 `v The .motor device tor opening' the valve is ot practically the sametype as themotor device for openingthe valve 26. However when the piston 37 in this motor has reachedV nounou the bottom` of its strokefand the valve ..35 is fully -opened said 4piston v.uncover-,fs 1a port control is not in operation. depressing the plunger 44 member 41 'is seated and member 42 is :unseated .so thait- `communication is established thru thetvvobranches of the pipe lat each ,side of the pilot valve. The member 41 simply eon'trolsftlie exhaust thru the port- 45.y

So far-We have described the means fo:I idling the :booster and 'thefmeans for entraining it'but have not `mentioned the arrangements for deliver-'ing operating ,steam :to kthe booster so that it Will become a driving factor.

' pipe 50 the piston rod 51 operates .upon the rocking member 52 :to rraise 4.the'rod 53 connected -to the throttle 416 and thereby open the latter. The full operating pressure of steam is, ofcourse, sufficient to overcome the heavier spring 15 vand the piston 7 at once moved to :uncover the `ports 2O and permit the booster to become a driving factor. A

" hand-operated shut-off valve 54 is placed in the section 19- Which is 7only :used in .ca-ses of emergency.

The flow of operating fluid Lto `the throttle operating .cylinder 47 is 'subject' to the control of fa pilot device which prevents lcommunication between the pipes 39 :and 50 until such time as pressure of steam :exists infthe section 19. In other Words the valve 56 is keptseated by means of the, spring 57 and the fluid pressurefbelowit until such time as .the piston device 58 is :forced downwardly by pressure entering thru vthe passage 59. aft which time the valve member 60. is :seated and the valve member 56- is opened. .the former simply controlling exhaust thru the port '.61 andthe latter. as stated. controlling communication lbetvveen lthepipes39 and 50. As indicated in the beginning of this specification the pipe 19 receives it-s steam supply Vfrom athe steam supply line 'of the loco- Y. The vthrottle 46 .controls .the flow of opermotive, .that is, ,the line between the locomotive 'throttle and the cylinders of the Ylocomotive. In other Wordsthere vis no pressure of steam in the pipe 19 until after the loco# motive throttle has been opened and the locomotive has begun to go to worlk. The booster throttle. (therefore, is subordinated to the controlof the main engine and cannot be opened in the absence of pressure lin the steam supply line to the main' cylinders. rfIlh'is in itself is a feature which I do not claim except in combination with my pe culiar arrangement for idling and for entraining the booster motor.

As already familiar to those skilled in this art the booster is intended to drive the locomotive only Vat starting or during compa-ra` tively slow yspeeds after which it isvrto I'be disentrained or cut out. It is advisable., however, to arrange so that the booster vcan be vkept in operat-ion even after the .locomotive has begun. to use s-team expansively. At the :same time it is 'desirable to be able to idle the booster -wheneverdesired no matter Whether the locomotive be standing still or be running at a fair rate Iof speed. In other wordszthe engineer when he sees lthat it will benecessary to use the booster must be able to Warm it up fora certain length of time before he ent-rains yit regardless of the locomotive operating conditions existing at the moment. v

The booster latch 62, therefore, which controls the whole system -so far described is arranged to swing upon the pivot 63 so that during its initial movement the extended bearing surface 64 will come into Contact with the pl-ungerf44 in the idling pilot valve 33 and cause the valve -41 to closeand the r gagementof the latter with the face 65.

When this occurs. of course, pressure from the source 31 is admitted to the entrainmg motor land the valve 35 is opened kso that steam can enter the'conduit 19 and entrain vthe booster.

While the booster is .in operation the plunger in the pilot valve 33 is designed to hold the latch 62 in the ,final or entraining position as shown in Yfull lines in Fig. 3 but when in .the idling posit-ion dotted lines in Fig; 3) the weight of the y'latch is sulicient to cause it to drop down awa-y from the plunger 44 .in the pilot valve 33 just as soon as the engineer takes his handl away. Y

rlhe booster latch 62 isxshoivn as associated Wifththe screw 66 of a particular type of power reverse gear known as the precision llO - gearbutzwhieh is not illustrated in detail all) because it forms no part of the present invention. -Suliice it to say that adjustment of the valve ,cut-off of the locomotive is made by revolvingthe wheel 67 and with it the screw 66 and as the screw turns the latch 62 ridesV backwardly and forwardly along the screw 66. rlhe middle position 68 (see Fig. 4) is the neutral or mid-gear position of the locomotive and the position 69 marlrs lthe full forward position of the cut-off and the position 70 the full reverse position of the cut-off.

lt will be apparent that with the booster latch 62 at any position between 68" and 69 it would be' possible to cause idling of the booster' motor by virtue of the fact that the surface 64 is 'long enough 'to engage the plunger fill of the pilot valve in anytposition which the latch may occupybetween these two points'. It will be equally apparent thatthe face 65 of the latch will be able to depress the plunger all in the pilot valve 34, which is the' entraining pilot valve, only during comparatively long cut-offsv of the locomotive valve gear.

The summary of the operation is as fol-V lows: Suppose the engineto be running and the engineer sees that it will be necessary to use the booster. He moves the latch 62 just enough to engage the pilot valve 33. VThis, as described, will open the idling valve 26 and as long as he holds the latch 62 in this position the booster motor will slowly idle andthereby clear itself of any condensation which may have accumulated and warm it up so that when its driving power is desired it will go to work without delay. When the cut offl has been'adjusted to substantially the 69 position and the moment arrives that the booster should be cut in Vor entrained the engineer simply continues the movement of the latch 62 tothe full line position in Figure 8 whereupon the entrain-A ing valve l35 will admit steam to move the pistonY 7 in the manner already described: As soon as this valve 35 is opened air pressure will reach the throttle operating cylinder 41:7 because pressure alreadyrhappens to exist in the pipe 1,9. The throttle 46 will then open and they booster will become a driving factor. `On the contrary had the idling and entrainment of the booster taken place while the locomotive was standing still it would not become a driving factor until after the main locomotive throttle had been opened and pressure existed inthe pipe 19.

AThe piston 7 is arrangedgso that complete entrainment of the vgear 3 with the gear l taires place as described prior tothe time that it uncovers'the port 2O and during this time yit will be acting only against the lighter inner spring la. But when the full operating pressure of steam is admitted to the conduit 19-19the piston 7 will have t0 operate against the combined pressure'of both springs 14 and l5 and in this waygunnecessary shocks will be avoided. During return movement of the piston both springs will be effective until the port 2O is closed after `which the heaviest spring willc'ease exert any pressure and d'isentrainment'will not take place until'all steam. isshut olf from the pipe 19. l f Iclaimz- ,y 1 y l. The combination of .a steam locomotive, a normally disentrained steam operated booster therefor, a conduitV for delivering steamto thebooster, a motor meansfor entraining the booster adapted to receive steamthrough said conduit, a valve for admitting steam to VVsaidconduit fromv one source to actuate saidvmotor means'for entraining the booster, and a throttle valve'for admitting steam to said conduit fromV a second source for operating the booster.

2. The combination of a. steam locomotive, a normally disentrained steam booster therefor, a conduit for delivering steam to the booster, a motor means for en` training the booster adapted to receive steam through said conduit, a valve for admitting steam to said conduit to actuate said motor means for entraining the booster, a throttle valve for admitting steam to said conduit for operating the booster and means vfor admitting steam through said conduit tolidle the booster. 1

3. The combination of a'locomotive, a normally disentrained booster therefor, a conduit for delivering operatingrsteam tothe operated p booster, a motor means for entraining the" booster adapted to receive steam through said conduit, a valve for admitting steam to Isaid conduit to'entrain the booster, a moy tor means for opening said valve, a throttle for the operating steam conduit, and a motor means for automatically opening-said throttle which operates afterv said valve opening motor Vmeans has functioned.

l.' The combina-tion of a steam locomotive, a normally disentrained steam operated booster therefor, a conduit for vdelivering steam to thebooster motor, a piston for entraining the motor arranged vinthe path of the steam through said conduit, a' by-pass around said piston, a port controlled by said piston. means for admitting steam to said conduit in quantities not exceeding the capacity of the byfpass whereby to idle the booster, a second means for admitting'v steam to said conduit in quantities exceeding the capacity of the by-pass and sufficient to move the piston to cause entrainment but not operation of the booster motor as well as to open said port, anda throttlevalve lll) for admitting steam to said conduit: and

Vtestato normally disentrained l booster therefor,I a conduit for delivering steam to the booster, a throttle for said conduit, a motor means for entraining the booster adapted to receive steam through sa-id conduit, a motor `device for openingl said throttle, means for admitting steam from an independenty` source vto said conduit vto actuate the entrainingmotor means, and means for actuating said throttle opening motor devicesnbsequent to the admission of independent entraining steam.

(i. The combination of a locomotive, a booster motor, steam actuated means for entraining the booster, a valve for controlling the supply of entraining steam, a conduit for supplying the booster with operating steam, a throttle in said conduit, a fluid motor for opening the entraining supply valve, a fluid motorfor opening the throttle, a conduit for conducting the fluid from the motor for the entraining valve to the motor for the throttle only after the entraining valve has been opened, and a pilot device in said fluid conduit subject to steam pressure conditions in the steam supply conduit inadvance of they throttle, said pilot device beingl arranged to prevent flow of fluid to the throttle opening motor in the absence of steam pressure in said conduit.

7. A controlling system for a normally disentrained and inoperative locomotive booster motor comprising in combination, a conduit through which steam is supplied to said booster to control its various functions, entraining means normally blocking the flow of steam through said conduit, a comparatively small capacity by-pass around said entraining means, means for delivering steam through said conduit and said by-pass to idle' the booster Without causing entrainment, means for delivering steam to entrain the booster and open said conduit but Without causing operation of the booster as a driving factor, and means for delivering steam through said conduit to operate the booster as a driving factor.

8. The combination of a locomotive with its steam supply line, a normally rdisentrained booster therefor, a steam supply conduit for delivering operating steam to the `booster vfrom said supply line, a motor means for entraining the booster adapted to receive steam through said conduit, a valveV for admitting steam to said conduit to entrain the booster, a motor means for opening said valve, a throttle for the operating steam conduit, a motor means for automatically opening said throttle vvhich operates after said valve opening motor means has functioned, and a pilot device for preventing operation of the throttle opening motor means in the absence of pressure in the locomotive supply line. l

9. The combination of a locomotive With its steam supply line, a normally disenconduit. for delivering operating steam to the booster froml said` locomotive supply line, a throttle for-controlling the supply of operatingy steam throughsaid conduit,va motor means for entraining`r the booster adapted to receive. steam Vthrough said conduit, and aA valve for admitting steam from au independent source tO VSaid conduit to actuate the motor means for entrainingthe Vbooster but Withoutcausing the booster to become effective as a driving factor. v

10. The combination of a locomotive With its steam supply line, a. normally disentrained steam operated booster therefor, a conduit for delivering operating steam to the booster from said locomotive supply line, a throttle for controlling the supply of operating-steam` through said conduit, a motor means for entraining the booster adapted to receive steam' through said conduit, a valve for admitting steam from an independent source to said conduit to actuate the motor means for entraining the booster, and means for idling the booster.

11. The combination of a locomotive with its controlling devices, a normally disentrained booster, means for idling the booster, means for entraining ita pilot valve for controlling the idling means, and ar second vpilot valver for controlling the yentraming 'means,both of said pilot valves being subordinated to the controlling devices of the locomotive.

12. A locomotive booster apparatus comprising in combination with a moving part in the cut-offA controlling devices for the locomotive, a normally disentrained and inoperative booster motor, a controlling system for. the booster including a pilot valve for idling the booster, a pilot valve for entraining the booster, anda booster latch associated with said moving part and adapted, when actuated, to open the idling pilot valve in any position of the moving part but the entraining pilot valve only in positions of said moving part which give long cut-offs.

13. The combination of a locomotive, a normally disentrained booster motor therefor, steam actuated mechanism for entraining said motor, a valve for supplying the steam for entrainment, a second valve for supplyingsteam to idle the booster prior to entrainment, a pilot valve for controlling the action of the entraining` valve, and a second pilot valve for controlling the action of the idling valve. l 14. A controlling system for a normally disentrained and inoperative locomotive booster motor comprising in combination, means for causing idle operation of the booster, means for causing entrainment of the booster, and a latch rmember initially movable for part of its stroke to cause act-udisentrainecl and ationof the idling means and subsequently movable for the balance of its stroke to cause actuation of the entraining means.

15. A controlling system for a v,normally inoperative locomotive booster motor comprising in combination, means for causing idle operation of the booster, means for causing entrainment of the booster, and a latch member initially 10 movable for part of its stroke to cause actuation of the idlingmeans and `subsequently movable for the balance of i'ts'stroke to cause actuation ofthe entraining means', the latch,- after completion of its stroke, being held -in its entraining position by 'the means for idling the booster.

VIn testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name. 

